I Have a Bone to Pick with Jane Austen

"What say you, Mary? for you are a young lady of deep reflection I know, and read great books, and make extracts."

As we near the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth in December, I have a complaint to raise. To be clear, I adore Austen’s novels—I always have and I always will. But her relationship with note-taking infuriates me.

My complaint is twofold:

1. I’m frustrated that Austen left so few notes behind. Compared to her contemporaries, we have little written i…